The rock legends will transfer their catalog and assign future releases to the Universal Music Group.
Aerosmith and Universal Music Group recently announced a partnership that will see Aerosmith’s entire recorded music catalog transfer to a new home in UMG.
Said agreement will also assign “future music releases, merchandise and audio-visual content” to the record label starting in 2022 as reported by Rolling Stone.
This includes Aerosmith’s releases under Sony Music / Columbia, where the band released their first 3 albums-1973’s self-titled debut, 1974’s Get Your Wings,” and 1975’s “Toys In The Attic.” It is surmised that the rights to these albums will go back to Aerosmith in 2022 and that “the band has chosen to release them” through this new deal.
Likewise, Aerosmith’s late 80’s and early 90’s run of hit albums that includes “Permanent Vacation” (1987), “Pump” (1989) and 1999’s “Get A Grip” released under Geffen records will also be reunited under UMG. Geffen is now a subsidiary of Universal.
Besides the aforementioned catalog, the partnership also includes “the personal archives of band members Steven Tyler, Joe Perry, Tom Hamilton, Joey Kramer and Brad Whitford, who will actively curate their collections of music, photos, video footage, artwork, journals, set lists and memorabilia.”
Aerosmith lead guitarist and co-founder Joe Perry said, “It’s been a long road but I’m extremely happy and proud to say on behalf of Aerosmith we have been able to bring our 50 years of music under one roof by partnering with UMG.”
He added, “This will allow us to bring our music to our fans in ways we never were able to before. It’s something we’ve dreamed about happening for a long time. It’s a win for Aerosmith, UMG and ultimately our fans.”
Back in 2018, Universal Music Group signed a similar deal with Elton John. The agreement also included recorded music and merchandising. The only difference being is that the Elton John deal included publishing administration. Aerosmith’s publishing was not mentioned in the recently unveiled agreement with UMG.
Still, Aerosmith’s deal with the Universal Music Group will surely fetch a major pay day for “the greatest American rock band in the history.”
The Aerosmith-UMG partnership comes ahead of Aerosmith’s 50th year anniversary. The band’s hits include “Crazy,” “Angel,” “Sweet Emotion,” “Walk This Way,” “Janie’s Got A Gun,” “Amazing” and “I Don’t Want To Miss A Thing” to name a few.